Winding up mechanism for time clocks of vehicles



Aug. 24, 1954 WINDING UP F. K. H. NALLINGER 2,687,002 MECHANISM FOR TIME CLOCKS OF VEHICLES Filed Aug. 14, 1950 BY 5% M4 @dh.

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 24, 1954 UNITED STATES RATENT OFFICE WINDING UP MECHANISM FOR TIME CLQCKS OF VEHICLES Friedrich K. H. Nallinger, Stuttgart, Germany Application August 14, 1950, Serial No. 179,265

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to a fluid-operated device for winding a spring-driven clock, more particularly a vehicle clock of the type having an arbor capable of rotating in one direction only for winding up the spring of the clock.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 176,345, filed July :28, 1950, now Patent 2,574,583, issued November 13, 1951.

It is the object of the present invention to provide means whereby the transfer of an excessive winding force from the fluid-operated member to said arbor will be prevented. It is a further object of my invention to provide a fluid-operated device of the character indicated which is extremely simple, lends itself to manufacture at a low cost, and is reliable in operation and free from any substantial wear.

Further objects of my invention will appear from a preferred embodiment thereof described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a side view of a preferred embodiment showing the time clock and the fluid-operated winding device combined therewith, the latter being partly shown in section,

Fig. 2 is an elevation viewed from the left with reference to Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line -3--3 of Fig. 2.

In the instrument panel of the vehicle, a clock H1 is installed having an arbor H which is capable of rotating in one direction only for winding up the spring of the clock and of axial displacement for setting the clock. The arbor i i has the usual knurled knob 12 at its lower end for manipulation. If the driver of the vehicle wishes to set the clock he will rasp the knob to shift the arbor l! in axial direction whereby it will be coupled to the hands of the clock in a known manner.

For the purpose of winding up the clock automatically, I have provided the following means: On the rear wall of the clock It located at the left with reference to Fig. 1 there is mounted a substantially cylindrical sheet metal housing is which as a whole is composed of two flanged cupshaped sheet metal shells l4 and i5. Between the adjacent flanges of the shells is and 5 a corrugated diaphragm It is interposed which forms a partition subdividing the interior of the housing i3 into chambers. The chamber within the shell I4 is connected with a pipe ll which establishes a communication with the intake manifold of the engine of the vehicle. The shell 15 is provided with an axially disposed boss i8 having an axial bore in which a stem 19 is slidably guided. The inner end of the stem is firmly connected to the center of the diaphragm It, whereas the outer end carries a cross head 22. A similar cross head 2| is mounted on housing l3 near the periphery thereof by a stud 22. A leaf spring 23 extends across the cross heads 29 and 2! and is firmly held in contact therewith by clamping members 24 and 25 which are suitably fixed to the cross heads 28 and El, for instance by means of rivets 25 shown in Fig. 2.

The lower end of the leaf spring 23 projects downwardly beyond the cross head 2! and is connected by a link 27 to an arm 28 which is mounted for rotation about the axis of the arbor l l and is connected therewith by a one-way clutch. In the embodiment shown, the one-way clutch comprises an inner element 29 keyed to the arbor H and an outer surrounding annular element 33 fixed to arm 28. The two elements confine tapered pockets in which one-way clutching means in the form of rollers 31 are inserted. The link 2! is attached to the leaf spring 23 by a cross head 32 fixed to link 21 and by means of a clamping member 33 riveted to the cross head 32, the spring being inserted therebetween. The opposed faces of the cross heads 28, 2| and 32 and of the clamping members 24, 25 and 33 are preferably convex as shown in Fig. l, and the leaf spring is so loosely held between the cross head 2| and the clamping member 25 as to be capable of a rocking motion on cross head 2|. Thus, it will appear that means are provided to connect spaced points of the leaf spring 23 to the diaphragm It, the housing l3 and the link 2?.

The operation is as follows: Whenever the operator by starting the engine and depressing the accelerator causes vacuum to be built up in the intake manifold of the engine, air will be sucked through pipe ll from the shell Hi causing the diaphragm it to pull stem l9 into casing 13. As a result, the leaf spring 23 will tend to oscillate about its central supporting point on cross head 2! and to pull link 2'! to the left with reference to Fig. 3 whereby the annular element its will be rotated in clockwise direction with reference to Fig. 3. The one-way clutch will transfer such rotary motion to the arbor ll. Whenever the intake manifold of the engine is relieved from vacuum, the parts l5, I9, 23, 2'1 and to will move in the opposite direction and this movement will not be transferred to the arbor, since the arm 28 is mounted for a free and unobstructed rocking motion opposite to the winding direction. When the clock has been fully wound up, the arbor ii 3 is unable to further rotate in clockwise direction with reference to Fig. 3. Therefore, the lower end of leaf spring 23 cannot move to the left when stem 19 is pulled inwardly into housing I3. In

that event, the leaf spring 23 will be flexed so that 5 operatively co-ordinated to said swingable memher and said arbor and constituting a. one-way clutch therebetween, a linkage attached to said swingable member, a leaf spring, and means connecting spaced points of said leaf spring to said diaphragm, to said housing and to said link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,150,822 Hoeschen Aug. 17, 1915 1,486,841 Porter Mar. 11, 1924 1,728,267 Fischer Sept. 17, 1929 1,769,587 Luene July 1, 1930 2,176,278 Shaker Oct. 17, 1939 2,230,148 Standow Jan. 28, 1941 2,574,583 Nallinger Nov. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 330,627 Great Britain June 16, 1930 753,107 France July 31, 1933 

